Friday, September 17, 2010

the longlist progress: T minus 3 and counting....and a giveaway to celebrate

The Booker Longlist 13 -- it's almost over! Yay!

In the wee early hours of this morning I finished Damon Galgut's In a Strange Room, and two days ago I finished up The Finkler Question, by Howard Jacobson. So I'm almost finished with the longlist, have one more to go on the shortlist, and plan to celebrate when it's all over with a stack of deliciously mindless horror novels until October 1.

8. The Slap, by Christian Tsiolkas9. The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet, by David Mitchell

10. Skippy Dies, by Paul Murray -- my favorite of the entire list! I'll repeat my bummedness at it not getting to the shortlist.

Reading now:11. The Long Song, by Andrea Levy -- shortlisted

Left to go:12. The Betrayal, by Helen Dunmore13. The Stars in the Bright Sky, by Alan Warner

--and now, the fun stuff --

Giveaway of Room, by Emma Donoghue

In honor of finally getting to the last 3 books on the longlist (which was no simple task, mind you), I'm marking the occasion by giving away a copy of Room, by Emma Donoghue. I will be selecting a winner on September 25th. If you'd like to try for a chance to win, all you have to do is leave a comment on this post with your blog name by September 24th. If you don't have a blog, then please leave a comment and send me an email with your contact info. International entries are welcome. Note: YOU DO NOT HAVE TO SIGN UP AS A FOLLOWER. I enjoy people's comments, and I really like the wonderful people I've "met" since I started this reading journal, but followership is not mandatory just to win a book!

33 comments:

Congratulations on your progress! Of the shortlisted titles, which one do you think will win? I've only read THE LONG SONG and ROOM (I don't need to be entered in the giveaway) but I think ROOM was just fabulous.

I've been lurking and reading you through Google Reader - I love seeing what others are reading and what they think of it! One day I hope to have the time to read the long lists and short lists for some of the great book prizes out there...right now, getting through one book in a month is challenge enough!

Room is on my list of books to read!

Shannonnannyshanny.blogspot.com and thegreatbookchallenge.blogspot.com

@Suzanne: Thanks for coming by! Guessing the winner is tough because the judges this year have demonstrated some bizarre choices for the longlist AND the shortlist to begin with, so who knows? My personal favorites for the shortlist: Damon Galgut's In a Strange Room or McCarthy's C -- polar opposites of each other. But that's just me. And I've only picked a winner once!

@Amy -- you're in. Thanks!

@LeAnn -- it is definitely not what you expect! Thanks for joining the giveaway.

@Shannon -- lurk away! And thanks for entering!

@Anonymous person -- thanks for entering the giveaway!

@Moridin - thanks!

@JoV - you're in!

@Veens: reading the longlist is just something I do each summer. I don't know why; by the end I'm exhausted and just crave mindless!

Wow, well done for reading all those books! I've signed up to read the shortlist for a Dutch prize, but as it's a shortlist, there are not that many books, only 5, to read. The long-list was over 25 I think (too much!).

I would love to read Room so please enter me in your giveaway. And thanks for running the giveaway!

I'll read anything and everything most of the time, but I also love hearing other people's suggestions and opinions. This one sounds great, I'd love to win it! Congratulations on your progress, I hope you enjoy the rest of them. :)

About Me

bottom line: I love to read.
I use this space to record and to talk about what I've read during the year. You won't see descriptions like "lush, lyrical prose" here ... I'm just an ordinary reader person who wants to share a love of the written word. I don't really "review" -- that's for the pros. I just offer opinions. Feel free to comment any time.